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Album Details
- Artist: Xasthur
- Album: Subliminal Genocide
- Label: Hydra Head
- Year of Release: 2006
- ME Rating:
- Reviewed by: dscanland on 2007-04-11
RecommendThe metal realm of music is as fragmented as any genre of music. When you can have bands like Cathedral, Slayer, Metallica, Killswitch Engage and even Sevendust all lumped into the same bin then you do need to establish fragments. Then we get into Death Metal and Black Metal and the lines start to get fuzzy again. Xasthur is a Black Metal outfit from the US, a rare thing on it's own to have a decent American Black Metal group. But the other thing is that it is a one-man project from the equally cryptic Malefic. Now for a band like Xasthur to be in the same genre as a band like Cradle Of Filth is strange. Cradle of Filth could be considered glam compared to this dark and brooding music.
Now for the music on his first broadly distributed album, Subliminal Genocide. This music sounds like it should be the soundtrack to demons and zombies ripping flesh off of little children. While it is probably true that most of this music was recorded in Maliefic's basement, it sounds as if it was recorded in a dungeon with skeletons hanging on the wall. The production is half of the triumph here. Guitars and such are put through some sort of effect to make them sound like you are listening to them through a grate in a sewer. Malefic's vocals are completely indecipherable but fitting for this music. But I wouldn't say that Xasthur is completely unlistenable. It actually becomes quite hypnotic after a while. This music has merit and has a reason for being here. For so long the the the death and black metal world was ruled by northern Europeans but Malefic has moved this to the US with a strong release like this. Subliminal Genocide is definitely not for the weak hearted. It is dark and could induce vomiting.
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on 2012-03-11 CharlesMartel Said:
For some reason, a lot of black metallists have this desire, especially when they are solo artists, to hide their true identities behind pseudonymns. Why this should be I do not know, but Xasthur (a.k.a. Malefic) is no exception. What is odd is that Xasthur is American, and not Norwegian or some other long hair from the frozen north of Europe. I can expect the growling from Scandinavians but it does seem odd when you realise this is American growling. Has Malefic not heard of the Cookie Monster?
Whether that makes a difference to the music, or the quality thereof is another matter. Let's start with the production, if you can call it that. Now whenever I have heard black metal, whatever my opinion of it, it has been redeemed by two qualities: first that it is technically proficient and secondly that it has a production which fits the music. I cannot say that the latter applies in the case of "Subliminal Genocide" . If there were such a thing as lo-fi metal then this would be it, and that is not a compliment. This sounds like a buzzsaw fizzing along over the sound of someone hitting wet plaster with a spoon at great speed.
Add to that the fact that he growls. In fact, he growls a lot.
Apologies to one and all, but I really find this is the arse end of black metal. To say that this is stereotypical is inadequate. This is every Z-movie's idea of a bunch of suburban kids making a lot of noise in the garage. If there is music in Hell to torment the souls of the damned, then this is it. Not that it is reminiscent of the Hell in the mystical sense, but in the sense that listening to this is a deserved torture for whatever sins you have committed. What that says about the maker of the music, I don't know, and I struggle to think into which of the Seven Hells of Dante's " Inferno" I would place Mr. Malefic.
And now the tracks. The first one goes grr, grrr, bzzz, bzz, rrrrr, bzzz, grrrr, ump ump ump . The second one goes grr, grrr, bzzz, bzz, rrrrr, bzzz, grrrr, ump ump ump . The third one goes grr, grrr, bzzz, bzz, rrrrr, bzzz, grrrr, ump ump ump . And so on. About midway through the first track my cat, Perseus, who is a sensitive soul, got up and walked out of the room and didn't come back until it was all over. Can't say I blame him.
The only distinguishing feature between the songs is the titles. And if you wanted to do a parody of a depressive black metal album you could not do better than compile a track list based on this album. " Pyramid of Skulls" ; " Arcane and "Misanthropic Projection" ; " Malice Hidden in Surrealism" I mean, all this sounds like Seth Puttnam is become the Lawnmower Man, an erudite and reasoned version of Anal Cunt - and you can't understand it anyway because it is all grrr grrr howwwwwl!
Xasthur is not for the squeamish. In fact, it is not for me.
Rating: 1/10
